---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Anything can be said and, in consequence…"
description: "\"Anything can be said and, in consequence, written about anything.\" — George Steiner"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/george-steiner-4683_consequence_anything-can-be-said-and-in-consequence_1314055.png"
---

#  Anything can be said and, in consequence, written about…

![“Anything can be said and, in consequence, written about anything.” quote by George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/george-steiner-4683_consequence_anything-can-be-said-and-in-consequence_1314055.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/george-steiner-4683_consequence_anything-can-be-said-and-in-consequence_1314055.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/george-steiner-4683_consequence_anything-can-be-said-and-in-consequence_1314055.png)

> “Anything can be said and, in consequence, written about anything.”

[George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Language allows limitless expression, enabling endless topics to be written about.

**In simple terms:** Words can discuss anything.

Key Takeaway

Use language to explore any subject.

Themes

language creativity communication intellectual freedom

Mood

philosophical analytical

Type

literary critical

When to use this quote

- writing
- academic discourse
- artistic creation

Key Concepts

literary theory semantic openness expression

Questions to Reflect On

- How does boundless expression affect meaning?
- When does too much freedom hinder clarity?

A Different Perspective

Risk of superficiality; endless possibilities can overwhelm.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Consequence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consequence/) [Consequence Written](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consequence-written-4357632/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said/) [Said Consequence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said-consequence-4357633/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Written](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/written/)

## Related quotes

> [I believe in the freedom of expression, unequivocally - though, as I have written before, I wish more people would understand that freedom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/i-believe-in-the-freedom-of-expression-unequivocally-though-as-i-have/)

[Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/)

> [A book may lie dormant for fifty years or for two thousand years in a forgotten corner of a library, only to reveal, upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/a-book-may-lie-dormant-for-fifty-years-or-for-two-thousand-years-in-a/)

[Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/)

> [Naturally I feel no shame in writing these things because of the time which separates the moment when they are written--when only I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-ernaux/naturally-i-feel-no-shame-in-writing-these-things-because-of-the-time/)

[Annie Ernaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-ernaux/)

> [“Shall I speak of the consequence One, that your attention causes? Words you utter keep me stunned, My heart stops up at your gazes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zubair-ahsan/shall-i-speak-of-the-consequence-one-that-your-attention-causes-words/)

[Zubair Ahsan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zubair-ahsan/)

> [Well, I Am... I Said was a very difficult song, very difficult because I really had to spend a lot of time thinking about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-diamond/well-i-am-i-said-was-a-very-difficult-song-very-difficult-because-i/)

[Neil Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-diamond/)

> [I love to read poetry but I haven't written anything that I'm willing to show anybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/i-love-to-read-poetry-but-i-haven-t-written-anything-that-i-m-willing/)

[Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/)

> [You need more than a beginning if you're going to start a book. If all you have is a beginning, then once you've written…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-need-more-than-a-beginning-if-you-re-going-to-start-a-book-if-all/)

[Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/)

> [I write a lot, and then forget what I've written, and then come back to it and say, "Not bad, I should do something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-joseph/i-write-a-lot-and-then-forget-what-i-ve-written-and-then-come-back-to/)

[Allison Joseph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-joseph/)

> [“Of all that is written I love only what a man has written in his own blood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/of-all-that-is-written-i-love-only-what-a-man-has-written-in-his-own/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [It is a good practice to write at least on page of mantra daily. Many people get better concentration by writing than by chanting.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mata-amritanandamayi/it-is-a-good-practice-to-write-at-least-on-page-of-mantra-daily-many/)

[Mata Amritanandamayi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mata-amritanandamayi/)

> [I've always written. When I was in school, the only teacher who ever liked me was my creative writing teacher. I used to enter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-townes-earle/i-ve-always-written-when-i-was-in-school-the-only-teacher-who-ever/)

[Justin Townes Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-townes-earle/)

> [Strange, I feel as if up to now I had written no more than a few notes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-van-beethoven/strange-i-feel-as-if-up-to-now-i-had-written-no-more-than-a-few-notes/)

[Ludwig van Beethoven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-van-beethoven/)

> [Words are substance strange. Speak one and the air ripples into another's ears. Write one and the eye laps it up. But the sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-beachy-quick/words-are-substance-strange-speak-one-and-the-air-ripples-into/)

[Dan Beachy-Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-beachy-quick/)

> [Anything well written with good language and clarity and honesty is worth doing. It comes out of the same tradition as Shakespeare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moriarty/anything-well-written-with-good-language-and-clarity-and-honesty-is/)

[Michael Moriarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moriarty/)

> [The love religion is all that is written here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/the-love-religion-is-all-that-is-written-here/)

[Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/)

## More by George Steiner

> [“But there is a third mode of trancendence: in it language simply ceases, and the motion of spirit gives no further outward manifestation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/but-there-is-a-third-mode-of-trancendence-in-it-language-simply/)

[George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/)

> [Words that are saturated with lies or atrocity, do not easily resume life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/words-that-are-saturated-with-lies-or-atrocity-do-not-easily-resume/)

[George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/)

> [Every one of my opponents, every one of my critics, will tell you that I am a generalist spread far too thin in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/every-one-of-my-opponents-every-one-of-my-critics-will-tell-you-that/)

[George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/)

> [The very opposite of freedom is cliche, and nothing is less free, more inert with convention and hollow brutality, than a row of four-letter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/the-very-opposite-of-freedom-is-cliche-and-nothing-is-less-free-more/)

[George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/)

> [Books are in no hurry. An act of creation is in no hurry; it reads us, it privileges us infinitely. The notion that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/books-are-in-no-hurry-an-act-of-creation-is-in-no-hurry-it-reads-us/)

[George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/)

> [To starve a child of the spell of the story, of the canter of the poem, oral or written, is a kind of living…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/to-starve-a-child-of-the-spell-of-the-story-of-the-canter-of-the-poem/)

[George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/)

> [I have every reason to believe that an individual man or woman fluent in several tongues seduces, possesses, remembers differently according to his or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/i-have-every-reason-to-believe-that-an-individual-man-or-woman-fluent/)

[George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/)

> [I believe that a work of art, like metaphors in language, can ask the most serious, difficult questions in a way which really makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/i-believe-that-a-work-of-art-like-metaphors-in-language-can-ask-the/)

[George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/)

> [To a degree which is difficult to determine, the esoteric impulse in twentieth-century music, literature and the arts reflects calculation. It looks to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/to-a-degree-which-is-difficult-to-determine-the-esoteric-impulse-in/)

[George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/)

> [Books are in no hurry. An act of creation is in no hurry; it reads us, it privileges us infinitely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/books-are-in-no-hurry-an-act-of-creation-is-in-no-hurry-it-reads-us-2/)

[George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/)

> [“The inception of human consciousness, the genesis of awareness, must have entailed prolonged 'condensations' around intractable nodes of wonder and terror, at the discriminations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/the-inception-of-human-consciousness-the-genesis-of-awareness-must/)

[George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/)

> [The immense majority of human biographies are a gray transit between domestic spasm and oblivion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/the-immense-majority-of-human-biographies-are-a-gray-transit-between/)

[George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/)

> [The new sound-sphere is global. It ripples at great speed across languages, ideologies, frontiers and races. The economics of this musical Esperanto is staggering.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/the-new-sound-sphere-is-global-it-ripples-at-great-speed-across/)

[George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/)

> [My father loved poetry and music. But deep in himself he thought teaching the finest thing a person could do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/my-father-loved-poetry-and-music-but-deep-in-himself-he-thought/)

[George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/)

> [Every language is a world. Without translation, we would inhabit parishes bordering on silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/every-language-is-a-world-without-translation-we-would-inhabit/)

[George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/)

[Explore all 104 George Steiner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/)

## More Consequence quotes

> [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. They've tried it twice before, and the consequences were bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-segev/i-hope-that-the-palestinians-don-t-make-the-mistake-of-unleashing-a/)

[Tom Segev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-segev/)

> [The world's problems are, by and large, human problems-the unavoidable consequence of egoic sleepwalking. If we care to look, all the signs are present…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adyashanti/the-world-s-problems-are-by-and-large-human-problems-the-unavoidable/)

[Adyashanti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adyashanti/)

> [The prediction of nuclear winter is drawn not, of course, from any direct experience with the consequences of global nuclear war, but rather from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-prediction-of-nuclear-winter-is-drawn-not-of-course-from-any/)

[Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/)

> [When the first Superman movie came out I was frequently asked "What is a hero?" ...My answer was that a hero is someone who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-reeve/when-the-first-superman-movie-came-out-i-was-frequently-asked-what-is/)

[Christopher Reeve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-reeve/)

> [It's easy to make mistakes. It's living with the consequences of them that's the hardest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/it-s-easy-to-make-mistakes-it-s-living-with-the-consequences-of-them/)

[Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/)

> [Actions have consequences... first rule of life. And the second rule is this - you are the only one responsible for your own actions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/actions-have-consequences-first-rule-of-life-and-the-second-rule-is/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [The contempt for law and the contempt for the human consequences of lawbreaking go from the bottom to the top of American society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-contempt-for-law-and-the-contempt-for-the-human-consequences-of/)

[Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/)

> [Cultivate the habit of thinking ahead, and of anticipating the necessary and immediate consequences of all your actions… Likewise in your pleasures, ask yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/cultivate-the-habit-of-thinking-ahead-and-of-anticipating-the/)

[Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/)

> [There is no silver bullet. There are always options and the options have consequences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-horowitz/there-is-no-silver-bullet-there-are-always-options-and-the-options/)

[Ben Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-horowitz/)

> [“Each day I learn that every single action we take has its own consequence – for either good or bad.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ginny-dye/each-day-i-learn-that-every-single-action-we-take-has-its-own/)

[Ginny Dye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ginny-dye/)

> [Washington bureaucrats have classified the very air we exhale as a pollutant and have gone unchallenged in this incredible assertion. The logical consequence is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/washington-bureaucrats-have-classified-the-very-air-we-exhale-as-a/)

[Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/)

> [If you wish to be a lawyer, attach no consequence to the place you are in, or the person you are with; but get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/if-you-wish-to-be-a-lawyer-attach-no-consequence-to-the-place-you-are/)

[Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/)

> [Any kind of restrictions put on free speech would have worse consequences than bullying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-starlight/any-kind-of-restrictions-put-on-free-speech-would-have-worse/)

[Lady Starlight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-starlight/)

> [So, I'm not the only one who believes that there is such a thing as "the law of gravity," and if it's a law,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-comfort/so-i-m-not-the-only-one-who-believes-that-there-is-such-a-thing-as/)

[Ray Comfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-comfort/)

> [The average American expends more time becoming informed about choosing a car than choosing a candidate. But, then, the consequences of the former choice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/the-average-american-expends-more-time-becoming-informed-about/)

[George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/)

[Browse all 3,099 Consequence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consequence/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Anything can be said and, in consequence, written about anything.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "George Steiner"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/anything-can-be-said-and-in-consequence-written-about-anything/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Consequence"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/anything-can-be-said-and-in-consequence-written-about-anything/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/george-steiner-4683_consequence_anything-can-be-said-and-in-consequence_1314055.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/george-steiner-4683_consequence_anything-can-be-said-and-in-consequence_1314055.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/george-steiner-4683_consequence_anything-can-be-said-and-in-consequence_1314055.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Anything can be said and, in consequence, written about anything.” — George Steiner",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "George Steiner",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Anything can be said and, in...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/anything-can-be-said-and-in-consequence-written-about-anything/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/anything-can-be-said-and-in-consequence-written-about-anything/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
